


a played out trap.

by orphan_account



Category: X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Cruel Intentions (1999) Fusion, Angst, Bets, Drama, M/M, Pining, Rich Kid Drama, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-01-25 07:41:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21352645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: “I want Yohan to seduce this kid,” He raises his phone again, pointing at the screen.Yohan snaps his head up, “What? Why?”Seungyoun perks up at the mention of seduction and leans forward, resting his head on Wooseok shoulder, “I’ll do it.”Wooseok moves to his right slightly, causing Seungyoun's head to fall off its perch, “No. You’re an infamous slut, he’s definitely heard about you. Yohan actually has a shot,” Wooseok sits back, looking at Yohan and raising an eyebrow, “So? What do you say?”Yohan looks around the room disinterestedly, “I don’t know.”“It’s not like we're hurting anyone. All you gotta do is get the kid to fall for you, get the papers, and then dump the kid.”In an act of revenge, Kim Yohan devises a plan and makes a bet with his friends to seduce Hangyul, an unsuspecting college student. However, revenge rarely goes smoothly and through the course of Yohan’s scheme, feeling are discovered and reputations are questioned. In the end Yohan gets much more than he bargained for in his attempts to woo Lee Hangyul.
Relationships: Cho Seungyeon | Seungyoun/Kim Wooseok | Wooshin, Kim Yohan/Lee Hangyul
Comments: 9
Kudos: 110





	1. head over heels

**Author's Note:**

> this is a rework of an old fic I did for another fandom that I never finished. 
> 
> it's loosely inspired by the kdrama tempted and the movie cruel intentions. 
> 
> there's not nearly enough yohangyul content on this site so I wanted to contribute something!
> 
> I hope you enjoy :)

Hangyul is late. 

He’d stayed up way too late last night catching up on his new favorite kdrama and fooling around on his phone and he must’ve forgotten to set his alarm, because instead of waking up to it’s usual loud beeping, he’d woken up to the bright glare of the sun against his eyelids. 

Rolling away from the window, Hangyul makes to go back to sleep before realization hits him and he sits up so quickly he nearly gives himself vertigo.

He reaches toward his desk, fumbles around and nearly knocks down the entirety of his belongings, before he’s able to get a grasp on his phone. Pulling it free from the charging chord, Hangyul presses the home button and lets out a strangled cry at the numbers displayed on the screen. Tossing his phone back onto his desk, he trips out of bed and slides into his slippers before skidding out of the room. He come back a moment later, grasping at his toothbrush and toothpaste before running back out and toward the communal bathroom. Three minutes later, he’s skidding back in, grabbing at a random and a probably dirty hoodie. As he run around his room, throwing things into his backpack while simultaneously pulling on a pair of socks, Hangyul notes that Junho’s bed is neatly done and his backpack is gone. 

Grumbling under his breath, he makes a reminder to tell Junho off for not waking him up and leaving without him.

He glances at the clock above his desk and notes that he’s already missed the 11:30 bus and will have to take the 11:45 bus which means he wont get to Park Hall until 12 making him late for the first day of Business Ethics, an attendance mandatory class. 

If his brother ever found out about this, Hangyul would never hear the end of it.

He stumbles out of his room, attempting and failing three times to lock his door before he finally manages it. Hangyul must look like a complete idiot, running through the dorm and taking the stairs two at time. Goddamnit, finding out whether or not Daeyoung’s biological mother was also the same lady that had killed Eunjae’s sister had definitely not been worth it. 

As Hangyul is racing through the halls, he nearly takes out a poor cleaning lady after making a sharp turn and has to quickly jump out of the way to just narrowly avoid her. He bows and mutters multiple apologies before flying out of the door and toward the bus stop. 

He makes an attempt to speed walk in a very last ditch effort to save himself some embarrassment but the thought is completely thrown out of the window when he notices the large green bus rounding the corner. Hangyul has to sprint and then practically throws himself at the bus, just barely making it to the doors before they shut. He thanks the driver for waiting and quickly swipes his card. 

Once he’s situated and safely boarded, the embarrassment of the scene he’d just caused comes back to him and he self-consciously avoids the curious eyes of the other passengers by awkwardly standing near the front and looking down at his shoes. He has to desperately and audibly try to catch his breath and is reminded of the harrowing affects that staying in all summer binge watching tv shows and playing video games has had on his physical shape. 

So much for good first day impressions. 

Hangyul had been nervous enough already about transferring to a new university sophomore year. The added obstacles of being a complete irresponsible idiot really did not help. Now not only did he have to face his first day late, but also in a three day old hoodie and the joggers he’d slept in. 

He decides he should probably text Eunsang and Junho to save a seat for him, but when he reaches into his pocket, he finds it empty and lets out a muttered curse. He’d left his phone at home on his bed. 

Hangyul pulls up the hood of his sweatshirt, leans against the pole he's holding and lets out a loud groan. 

Today could not get any worse.

The bus ride is mercifully short and he arrives at the stop outside of the lecture hall with 3 minutes to spare. Hangyul barely waits for the bus to make a full stop before he’s leaping off and speed walking toward the lecture hall. 

It’s seems that whatever ounce of luck he’s been permitted for the day has run out, so when he’s makes the same mistake of running through the halls and not slowing down when making sharp turns, he’s unable to avoid colliding head on into a solid body leaning against the wall. 

Hangyul quickly stops, turning toward the other and feels even worse when he notices that they had be holding a cup of hot coffee which has now spilled all over their front, soaking through their expensive looking button-up.

The stranger’s face is red and his jaw is slack as he shakes the coffee off his hands. He has full lips that are currently forming a grimace and a distinctive mole above his right eyebrow. His dark hair is effortlessly styled and slightly messy like he’d been running his hands through it. Hangyul’s dumb brain makes the unnecessary observation that the stranger is ridiculously good-looking.

He stares at him, his mouth opening and closing rapidly as he gestures stupidly, “I am _so_ sorry!”

The other man grabs at his shirt, pulling it away from his body in disgust, “It’s a little too late for sorry.”

His friend, standing to his right, covers his dimpled cheeks with his hands in an attempt to muffle his laugh. His shoulders shake and an unattractive snort comes through his fingers as he shakes his head. He rapidly waves his hands in front of himself and apologizes when the other glares at him.

Reaching into his backpack, Hangyul pulls out a pack of tissues and offers them lamely to the stranger. The man glares at him before roughly accepting the tissues, ripping them from Hangyul’s outstretched hand and dabbing uselessly at his front. 

When Hangyul doesn’t make to leave, the stranger looks up at him, his eyes still narrowed in anger, “Do you fucking want something? You already ruined my goddamn shirt, you can go,” The man spits, flicking his wrist as if dismissing Hangyul.

Even the stranger’s friend looks taken aback. 

Sure, Hangyul understands that the guy is mad and, of course, he understands why, but that doesn’t give him the right to act so unnecessarily rude.

The shock wears off, and Hangyul’s face contorts from surprise to anger, “You don’t have to be a dick. I was just trying to apologize, it’s not like I meant for you to spill your coffee.”

“Yeah, well apologizing isn’t going to get the coffee stain off this shirt now, will it? Do you fucking know how much this cost?” The stranger spits, eyes narrowed in Hangyul’s direction.

“No. And frankly I don’t fucking care,” Hangyul huffs, challenging the glare the handsome stranger aims at him. 

His sudden bravado and venomous words come as a bit of a shock and Hangyul quickly shoulders past the other two. Confrontation is not one of Hangyul’s strong suits so he stuffs his hands into his hoodie, lowers his head, and quickly exits the scene to avoid any further altercations.

Class has already begun by the time Hangyul awkwardly shuffles into the lecture hall. He’s trying to be as quiet as possible while searching for an open seat and he’s a mix between thankful and embarrassed when he spots Junho and Eunsang waving manically at him from the fifth row, having saved a seat for him. 

He attempts to quietly and innocuously make his way to his seat without attracting more attention. But, of course, Hangyul had forgotten that God had given Satan the opportunity to run his life for the day, so when he tries to silently shuffle to his seat, he accidentally trips over someone’s backpack. Then, he tries to catch himself on a nearby desk but in the process only ends up knocking over someone’s notebook. Finally, in a foolish attempt to catch said notebook, he flings his arm out and knock down an empty seat. All of this causes a deafening chorus of crashes and loud noises that directs everyone’s attention towards him. 

Awkwardly picking up the chair and returning the notebook to its owner, Hangyul looks towards the front of the class and finds that the professor has stopped lecturing and is watching him with an unamused expression on his face. Hangyul can feel the dozens of eyes on him and he sheepishly apologizes for what feels like the billionth time that day as he picks himself up and off the floor. 

He sighs a breath of relief when the professor returns to the presentation and scurries to his seat where Eunsang and Junho are watching him. The traitors don’t look the least bit concerned for his well-being (his mental health bar is currently at 20% thank you very much for asking), instead too occupied with stifling their giggles behind their hands.

“What the hell, Junho? Why didn’t wake me?!” He hisses once Thing 1 and Thing 2 have finished their seemingly unstoppable bout of laughter.

Thing 1, also known as Junho, has the audacity to shrug, “I figured you wanted to sleep in, you were up pretty late last night. I had practice early this morning, I doubted you’d have wanted to be woken up that early”

Hangyul shakes his head before letting it drop into his arms and groans loudly. Suddenly looking over at the other boy, he squints suspiciously at the notoriously late sleeper, “Why didn’t _you_ bother waking me?”

Eunsang gets suddenly nervous, looking down at his hands as a blush creeps across his cheeks, “I, uhh—“

“He woke up at the ass crack of dawn with me to try and run into Cho Seungyoun at J&K.” Junho pipes up, dodging Eunsang’s slap. 

Eunsang scoffs, glaring at Junho, “I woke up at 7, that is not the crack of dawn okay?” He looks flustered as he looks back down at his hands, “And anyways it wasn’t to run into Seungyoun. I, um, wanted to drop by and visit my dad.”

“Eunsang, you hate your dad.”

Eunsang sputters looking up, “I do not! Anyways let’s go back to talking about how embarrassing Hangyul was just now when he tripped on _air_ coming in.”

Junho starts giggling so loud at the memory, the professor needs to glare at the trio again to get them to quiet down.

-—-

“And so that’s why I had to call things off. Like, fuck that—she’s hot sure but her husbands fucking huge. I’m not about getting my face reconstructed for a stupid fling.”

Seungyoun'ssitting on the edge of the picnic table, arms braced against his thighs. His tie is undone, strung around the unbuttoned collar of his dress shirt. He’s scrolling through his phone nonchalantly while recounting his latest breakup.

Wooseok raises an eyebrow, letting out a huffed laugh, “You knew who her husband was before you got involved with her; why the hell get involved in the first place?”

He’s sitting on the bench like a normal person, his legs tucked under himself as he watches the other students walking through the courtyard and towards the dining hall. 

Seungyoun narrows his eyes, looking over at Wooseok, “I obviously never planned on him finding ou—“

Yohan lets out a dramatic sigh cutting off Seungyoun and drawing both of their attention to him instead. Pulling at his sides dramatically, he pouts, “Your shirt is too tight on me.” 

He’s sprawled out on the picnic table next to Seungyoun, long legs in front and palms braced behind him against the scratchy wooden surface. Wooseok glares at Yohan, “We’re the same size.”

“Mmm, I don’t think so, I’m taller and a lot buffer.”

“Fine, then give me my shirt back. You’re lucky I even brought you something. I should’ve just let you walk around with coffee all over your front.” Wooseok makes to grab at Yohan who flinches and scoots away.

“No! I was a victim today, some dumb kid made me spill coffee all over myself. Where’s your sympathy?”

Wooseok rolls his eyes at Yohan’s whining before rolling his eyes again as a group of friends walk past, giggling and gesturing towards Yohan’s relaxed form. They’re gossiping in hushed whispers, their cheeks flushing red when Yohan looks over and flashes them an almost predatory grin. 

“You’re such a flirt,” Wooseok grimaces in disgust, looking back down at the papers in front of him. 

Seungyoun smirks, pulling Wooseok’s notebook out of his grasp, “Don’t tell me you're already studying. Or are you doing your homework? Can’t your fancy lawyer boyfriend just do it for you,” Wiggling his eyebrows Seungyoun stands and holds the notebook above his head to keep it away from Wooseok’s shorter grasp. 

“Fuck off, some of us actually care about our academics. I enjoy being smarter than you dumbasses,” with a swift kick to the shin, Wooseok is able to get Seungyoun to double over and cry out in pain, releasing the notebook from his hold. Picking it up, Wooseok glares at them, “I’m going to Happy Cup, I’ll see you idiots later.”

Yohan sits up, “Wait I’m coming with, I gotta get out of this heat,” Ignoring Wooseok’s loud disappointed groan, he collects his things and shoves them into his backpack, “You coming too?” He asks Seungyoun.

“Nah, I got work,” Seungyoun says as he stands, picking up his blaser and dusting it off.

Yohan’s eyebrows furrow, “Dude, we just got back from J&K?” 

“Not that kind of work,” Seungyoun winks at them, throwing his blaser across one shoulder and walking backwards. 

Wooseok scoffs in disgust, “Sleeping with older woman for gifts is not a job.”

Seungyoun smirks, shaking his head, “I was talking about soccer,” he speaks patronizingly, voice slow and eyes wide as he enunciates the last word extra carefully. He gives them a quick wave before turning and jogging off. 

Wooseok mutters a few choice words under his breath as he watches Seungyoun run off for a moment before turning towards Yohan, “Are you sure you want to come? I was gonna meet up with Jinhyuk. You’ll be third-wheeling,” He adds bluntly. 

“Pssh, Jinhyuk loves me, he’ll be happy I tagged along. It’s Seungyoun he hates,” Yohan says matter-of-factory as he walks alongside Wooseok.

Wooseok hums and Yohan can tell he’s annoyed that he’s tagging along but he also knows Wooseok loves him too much to call him out on crashing his date. 

They walk in comfortable silence through the lush green campus. It’s already September but the leaves have yet to turn and the sweltering heat makes it feel a lot more like summer. The sun is hot on their backs and all the students they pass are dressed in short-sleeves in an attempt to fight the warm weather. They walk past the old brick library and towards the Yard where students are walking in out of various restaurants. Wooseok leads them to the busy cafe in the corner, past the taco place and the pizza parlor. 

He hold’s the door open for Yohan and Yohan makes a big deal of it, bowing low to the floor in overzealous gratitude. Wooseok pointedly ignores him and sticks his neck out, scanning the cafe for his boyfriend. When he spots the familiar head of black hair, he straightens, a wide smile stretching across his face. Yohan follows close behind as Wooseok walks with purpose towards the back of the cafe. Jinhyuk doesn’t seem to hear them approaching, his head low and a slight frown on his lips as he stares at his phone.

“Hey, babe!” Wooseok takes the seat next to Jinhyuk and leans toward him, kissing him on the cheek and ignoring Yohan’s exaggerated gagging noises.

Looking weirdly uncomfortable, Jinhyuk doesn’t even bother to return Wooseok’s smile. Instead he looks uptight, mildly inconvenienced and slightly constipated. Well, the first one was almost always a constant but the other two were a bit worrying. Wooseok leans back in his seat to stare at the older man with furrowed eyebrows and a confused pout.

“Hey man,” Yohan greets clumsily in an attempt to break the awkward silence. He sits across from the couple, holding a fist out in Jinhyuk’s direction.

Jinhyuk raises his eyebrows, “Oh? Hey, Yohan, I didn’t realize you were coming along.” 

Yohan laughs awkwardly, lowering his ignored fist and instead scratching at the back of his neck, “Yeah. Sorry ‘bout third-wheeling.”

Jinhyuk shakes his head, “No, its uh cool. I just um,” He pauses, turning in his chair to look around. Biting his upper lip he looks back at Wooseok, “I just needed to tell Wooseok something real quick.”

Wooseok’s eyebrows are still furrowed, but he nods, standing and leading Jinhyuk towards the bathrooms and out of ear shot. 

Yohan leans forward in his seat and watches the two curiously. He’s squinting and trying to read Jinhyuk’s lips when the waitress walks over, blocking his view, “Hello, can I take your order?”

Yohan looks up at the waitress and flashes her a charming smile, “Hi,” He leans back in his seat, “Yes, you most definitely can. I’d like an iced Americano,”

The waitress nods, “And will that be all?”

“Yeah,” Just as the waitress is about to turn and walk away Yohan reaches forward, touching her arm gently, “Say, you don’t happen to go to Produce University do you? You look very familiar, I feel like I’d recognize such a pretty face.” 

The indirect compliment has exactly the affect Yohan was going for and the waitress’s face blushes a deep red as she covers her smile behind her hand. Yohan leans forward, arms braced on the wooden surface of the table as he smiles at her. 

Wooseok stands with his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised, “What’s going on? Why are you acting so strange?”

Jinhyuk leans against the space between the two bathroom. He mirrors Wooseok’s stance, albeit much more casually, and crosses his arms, “I wanted to talk to you about us and our...” He pauses, searching for the right word, “relationship.”

“Okay. What about it?” Wooseok asks, watching him skeptically.

Jinhyuk lets out an all too familiar breath through his nose, as if he were trying to teach a preschooler a math problem, “Look, I don’t think we’re on the same page anymore.” He shrugs as if that should explain it all.

Wooseok stares at him. A moment of silence passes before he breaks it, “And what the hell does that mean?” 

Jinhyuk gives him a pitiful smile, “This was good while it was going—great even. I mean, you’re a great guy, Wooseok, don’t get me wrong,” Jinhyuk reaches forward, brushing his fingers against Wooseok’s cheek, “But, I think I’ve been distracted and it’s why I let this go on for as long as it did.”

Wooseok leans away from his touch, eyebrows still furrowed, “Let _what_ go on for too long? Babe, you’re not making any sense, what are you trying to say?”

Jinhyuk lowers his arm back to his side. He lets out a dramatic sigh that’s tinged with condescension,“I think we should break up.”

Sorry, but _what the fuck_? 

Had Jinhyuk just—Wooseok must have suddenly developed a hearing problem because he’s fairly certain he’s hearing things. 

Okay, Kim Wooseok did not get dumped. 

Kim Wooseok was the one who did the dumping. 

The hardest part of a breakup had always been the begging and pleading—and occasional stalking—that came from the other party. Wooseok had never before in his life been on the other end of this conversation.

And quite frankly, he didn’t like it.

“We’re just not meant for each other, our age difference—I thought we could look past it, but you—we’re not the same maturity level, you know? I really think it’s time for both of us to start dating more realistically. I mean we’re so different. You’re practically still a baby—you haven’t even graduated college yet. Not to mention how different our upbringings have been,”

Wooseok lets out a dry laugh, turning away from Jinhyuk and shaking his head. Of course he’d bring class into this. 

At least _that_ was still predictable.

Jinhyuk has always been so insecure about his family’s social status. He acts so proud and mighty about his Cinderella story yet never fails to try his damn hardest to camouflage himself into Wooseok’s world. It was a constant attempt to act like he was meant to be there, in the fancy clothes and fancy cars that cost more than his childhood home.

“I hate doing this right now, I mean I know your dad’s company isn’t doing so great. All those legal issues keep cropping up and with your dad’s tria—”

Wooseok nearly gives himself whiplash, as he turns to face Jinhyuk, “Don’t fucking talk about my family,” He spits.

Yohan is playing with the waitresses hand and is about to ask her when she gets off work when he hears Wooseok raise his voice. Straining his neck, he looks behind the waitress and sees Jinhyuk shrugging and raising his arms in a placating gesture. Wooseok, whose always so nonplussed and stoic, is red in the face and looks like he’s on the verge of screaming or even worse; crying. Jinhyuk shakes his head, leaning forward and extending an arm as if he’s about to comfort Wooseok but then thinks twice, retracting his arm instead. He says something else before waving lamely and ducking out of the cafe, walking quickly with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

Yohan looks up at the waitress, giving her a sheepish smile, “Sorry. I’ll be right back.”

The waitress nods, confused, but smiling anyway, and Yohan quickly stands, 

walking over to Wooseok.

“What happened? You okay?” Yohan puts his hands on Wooseok’s shoulders. He looks shell-shocked and his eyes are glassy. Steering him toward their table in the corner of the coffee shop, Yohan walks Wooseok to his seat. He lets them sit in silence, giving Wooseok a chance to gather himself. When the waitress brings over his coffee, he offers it to Wooseok who gratefully accepts it, sipping the drink quickly through the straw as he stares out of the window. He’s nearly done with the drink when he clears his throat, blinking a couple of times before pushing the cup away from himself. Yohan looks up at him expectantly. 

Wooseok tilts his head, letting out a bitter laugh, “He dumped me.”

Yohan’s eyebrows jump and his jaw drops, “Holy shit!” He can’t help the incredulous laugh that escapes his lips, “You’re telling me the Kim Wooseok has just been dumped?” Yohan sits back, looking around in disbelief and shaking his head, “Damn, I did not think I’d live to see the day.”

Wooseok stops swirling the drink around with the straw to look up at Yohan and shoot daggers in his direction, “You’re a really fucking shitty friend, you know?” 

Having the audacity to look sheepish, Yohan schools his expression, “Sorry.”

Leaning forward, he pets Wooseok’s arm awkwardly. 

Wooseok watches his hand move back and forth against the sleeve of his shirt. He raises an eyebrow, an unamused frown on his face when looks up at Yohan, who quickly retracts his arm, tapping his fingers against the surface of the table, “Sorry.”

Wooseok looks back out the window. He’s still visibly upset but at least he no longer looks like he’s on the verge of tears. Instead he’s silently brooding, eye’s narrowed as he watches the cars drive past. 

He’s probably plotting Jinhyuk’s death. 

Yohan shivers at the thought.

A couple of beats of silence pass and Yohan bites the inside of his cheek, he looks back up at Wooseok, “Do you want a hug?”

Wooseok huffs, his chair scraping loudly against the floor as he stands quickly. He gathers his things and stands, shaking his head and casting a disappointed glare in Yohan’s direction before making to walk away.

Yohan nearly knocks his own chair over when stands, “Hey sorry! You know I’m bad at comforting people!” Nearly tripping over his own feet, he chases after Wooseok as the other strides out of the coffee shop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> twitter - [quatulate](Http://www.twitter.com/quatulate)
> 
> comments are appreciated :)


	2. the best laid plans

Hangyul lets his arms drop dramatically the minute the tailor steps away, “Why do I have to go to this thing with you?” He whines, pouting at Jinhyuk’s reflection.

He had just started his new brand new video game when Jinhyuk had entered his dorm unannounced. He hadn’t even gotten the chance to let his AI explore the crime scene before his playstation had been rudely unplugged and Jinhyuk had dragged him to this fancy over-priced store and then promptly forced him to get fitted for a new suit.

Said older brother sits on the couch behind him, scrolling casually through his phone. Looking up, he gives Hangyul a slightly exasperated expression, “Because I’m allowed a plus one and this will be good for you. You can make connections. You know, get to know people in the field you’re entering.”

Hangyul rolls his eyes. Turning toward his brother, he slouches dramatically, “And what field is that? I already told you, I don’t want to major in business and I don’t want to do law like you.”

Jinhyuk pockets his phone and stands, walking over to straighten the collar of Hangyul’s blaser, “Then what exactly do you plan on majoring in?”

_Shit_, the dreaded question Hangyul has been consistently asked for the past four years of his life. Although he’s gotten remarkably good at skipping around it, he’s never quite able to avoid the topic when the enquirer is his older brother. 

“And don’t give me any of that dance bullshit. You and I both know that is by no means a sustaining career.”

Hangyul deflates a little at the added statement. He's fought that battle enough times that he doesn’t bother arguing, merely shrugging as he breaks eye contact, “I’m not sure yet. I’m only a sophomore, I have time.”

Looking intently at Hangyul, Jinhyuk narrows his eyes. He seems to debate saying something further but ultimately releases the edges of Hangyul’s collar and nods, “Okay, fine. But, while you’re dipping your toes and deciding what it is you want to do with your life, it won’t hurt to have some important people on your contact list.”

Hangyul sighs emphatically. 

He knows his brother’s right and means well, but the upcoming sponsor’s night for Kim Hospital was really not his scene, “You know, you should probably take your boyfriend. He might get upset if he finds out you took me instead.”

Jinhyuk turns away from Hangyul, clearing his throat awkwardly, “Wooseok and I aren’t dating anymore. He has his own invite, anyway.”

Hangyul raises his eyebrows, genuinely surprised, “You two broke up?”

Jinhyuk sort of shrugs, looking much too nonchalant for someone who’d just broken up with his boyfriend of almost half a year, “We had a mutual disagreement. Didn’t really feel the same way about each other anymore.”

_ Of course. _

Even Jinhyuk’s breakups played out like business agreements. Hangyul never understood how his brother could treat everything so standardly and emotionlessly. 

Hangyul himself is the definition of emotionally unstable. He’s prone to cry when he gets so much as embarrassed. 

Come to think of it, Hangyul doesn’t think he’d ever even _seen_ his older brother cry before. Not when he’d managed to overturn his bike and scraped a large, nasty-looking gash across his calf when he was ten and Hangyul had just turned five. Not when their parents would fight loudly, waking them both up from their sleep almost every night that one year. Not when, that following year, his father hugged them both and told them he’d no longer be living in the same house but that he’d still visit them often. Not when that promise was kept less and less until it’d been nearly thirteen years since they’d last heard from him. Not even when their mother had collapsed at work and her health had begun it’s spiraling deterioration. 

Glancing over at the older man, he sees him standing, staring out of the window, a contemplative expression on his face as he watches the cars pass by.  


  
Hangyul’s brother was an admirably strong and hardworking man with scary levels of ambition but sometimes his lack of emotions and immovable tendencies got to Hangyul. Was it even human to be so cold?

After a moment of silence, Hangyul speaks up again, “Won’t it be awkward then? Why don’t we just skip this dinner? Go to the next one instead, one where Wooseok isn’t also invited,” he finishes, glancing at Jinhyuk slyly.

Jinhyuk turns back toward Hangyul and gives him an unimpressed look, “Not gonna work. You’re coming whether you like it or not.”

Hangyul lets out a dramatic sigh and throws himself onto the couch, ignoring Jinhyuk and the tailor’s strained protests that he’ll wrinkle the suit. 

-—-

The event is being held at the ballroom of the hotel downtown with high ceilings a bright white that match the equally brilliantly bright floor, giving the already massive room added grandeur. Wooseok walks through the large opened double doors and looks around, taking in the various CEOs and chaebols sitting around and mingling with one another. The guests are all painfully stiff; arrogant expressions lining their faces as they greet each other in fervor while servers lace in and out of the groups, offering small appetizers and glasses of champagne. 

God, Wooseok hated these things. They were awful and completely unnecessary. He never understood the need for a night dedicated merely for the purpose of boasting about exactly how much you had donated. Wasn’t the entire purpose of donations to make a selfless benefaction without face. A night like this was merely a way to make it about themselves again.

He’s quick to mask his judgy expression with a charming and polite smile as Yohan’s mother approaches him. The hospital director is dressed in a pretty, simple, grey cocktail dress, her hair pinned in a neat updo.

“Wooseok,” She leans in, giving him a quick hug before drawing back and holding him at arms length, “It’s so good to see you. You look so handsome! How’s college going?”

Wooseok returns her smile, “The semester only just started, but it’s been going well.”

She nods. Looking behind him, she cranes her neck and looks around, “Where are your parents? Did they not get their invitations?”

“Uh, no they did. They are just insanely busy right now. They wanted me to send their regards and apologies on their inability to attend.”

Mrs. Kim smiles sympathetically, a knowing and pitying smile on her face. She rubs Wooseok’s arm, “Well that’s okay. But look at you, Wooseok, representing KLB Group at such a young age. Gosh, you’re so grown up!”

She gives him another smile, her mouth opening as if to say something else but just then an arguably more important benefactor arrives, saving Wooseok from conversing. Once she has excused herself and goes to greet them, Wooseok sighs in relief, scanning the room instead for the youngest Kim. 

The only reason Wooseok had agreed to attend on his parents behalf and drag himself to this event had been because of Yohan’s dramatic and insistent begging. Yohan had been unable to convince Seungyoun to attend but unfortunately had somehow managed to exploit Wooseok’s kindness.

After making a quick scan of the crowd, Wooseok finally manages to spot Yohan near the stage. The younger is being surrounded by Mr. Kang and his wife, the owners of a large medical supplier, and looks very overwhelmed and bored. 

Because Wooseok is feeling fairly charitable today, he begins to approach the group with the goal of saving Yohan from the painfully bland conversation. He never makes it to Yohan’s side though, and is instead intercepted by a large hand that surround his wrist, effectively stopping him in his tracks. He’s seconds from ripping his arm loose and telling off whoever felt the need to grab him when he looks up and immediately recognizes the culprit.

Wooseok rolls his eyes, pulling his arm free, “What the hell do you want, Jinhyuk?”

Jinhyuk draws his hands back in mock offense, “I just wanted to say hello. I thought we’d ended things fairly amiably; there’s no need to be so hostile.”

Letting out a dry laugh, Wooseok shoots the lawyer an unimpressed look, “Our definitions of amiably seem to be a lot different. What are you doing here anyway?”

“I was invited.”

Wooseok eyes narrow, looking the other up and down quizzically, “How? You are definitely not a benefactor.” 

Sure it’s a low blow to poke at Jinhyuk’s status. It’s a snide and unnecessary comment but Wooseok can’t help but relish in the affect it has on the smug older man. Jinhyuk’s smile drops, his cool and calm demeanor finally shattering and a scowl marring his handsome face.

“The law firm got a group invite for the higher-ups and Ms. Im personally gave me one of the invites.”

Wooseok smirks, crossing his arms, “Don’t tell me you’re sleeping with Ms. Im now. Getting in someone’s pants just to attend a event really doesn’t suit you.”

Scoffing, Jinhyuk shakes his head, “Of course not. I don’t do that anymore.”

Wooseoks’s smirk drops and his eyebrows furrow as he side-eyes the other, “Anymore?”

Jinhyuk’s smug expression resurfaces and a little too late, Wooseok realizes he’s let the older gain the upper hand again by indulging him, “Come on, don’t tell me you still haven’t figured it out.” When Wooseok continues to stare at him in silence and evident confusion, Jinhyuk continues, “You didn’t actually think I dated you because of your winning personality, did you? I mean you’ve got the looks sure, but, come on,” Jinhyuk laughs cruelly, leaning in and dropping his voice inconspicuously,“I was a new lawyer without a single case under my belt. Getting to work on your dad’s case was practically a dream.” 

The lawyer shrugs and backs up, eyes still locked onto Wooseok before turning and walking off, leaving a seething, speechless Wooseok standing against the bar. 

“Yes, and we are very thankful for your donations,” Yohan bows for the millionth time in the past hour as he tries to subtly escape the conversation.

Mr. Kang seems seconds away from launching into a new rant when Yohan spots Wooseok sitting on a stool at the bar. He uses the older boy as a route of escape, signaling to Mr. Kang that he needs to go and greet his friend, politely waving goodbye, and practically running away. 

Yohan jogs up to the bar, leaning against the bench next to the Wooseok, “Hey, took you long enough to show up! God, I feel like I age forty years every second I have to listen to them talk,” Silence follows his remark and Yohan looks over in confusion, scanning Wooseok’s face, “What’s up? You look mad.”

Wooseok glares at him.

“Mad?” He spits, “I’m fucking furious!” he whisper shouts, flecks of spit hitting Yohan in the face. 

Yohan leans away in disgust, wiping at his cheeks, “Okay… what happened?”

“Jinhyuk, that asshole, happened.”

Yohan looks around obnoxiously, craning his neck wildly and looking very much like a crazed giraffe, “What? He’s here?”

Wooseok nods, glaring in the direction of the windows. Yohan glances over and spots the lawyer brown-nosing some of the hospital higher-ups.

“He’s a fucking parasite. Even breaking up with him didn’t get rid of him.”

“Didn’t _he_ break up with _you_?”

“That’s besides the point,” Wooseok rebukes.

Yohan raises a brow but says nothing further, instead looking back toward where Jinhyuk stands. He notices Wooseok’s ex has his arm around the shoulder of the shorter man to his left. 

“Who's that with him?” Yohan asks, nodding in the direction of the guy Jinhyuk’s introducing to the rest of the group he’s conversing with, “He got new arm candy already?”

Wooseok makes a face of disgust, “Eww no, that’s his younger brother.”

Yohan raises his hands in a placating gesture and glances back at Wooseok with a shrug, “How was _I_ supposed to know that?”

“He’s like the only thing that fucking robot actually cares about. It’s annoying, really. He’s annoying, really. And a dick.”

“…The brother or Jinhyuk?”

Wooseok rolls his eyes and lets out an exasperated sigh, “Jinhyuk, obviously.”

Spinning around in his seat, the older turns and glares at Jinhyuk’s back for a solid second or two before starting to stand, “I gotta get out of here. I’m sorry Yohannie, I can’t keep you company, not while the devil himself is here. I did my mother’s favor, I showed face at this stupid night,” Yohan pouts, evidently dejected by the statement, but nods as Wooseok pulls on his suit jacket, “I’ll see you later.” 

The older boy squeezes Yohan’s shoulder before hurriedly taking his leave.

\---

Glancing around the studio, Wooseok takes in the various new pieces his mother is working on. The studio looks the same as the last time he’d visited, admittedly a substantial amount of time ago. It’s still excessively large, the far left wall lined with floor to ceiling windows that currently cast the room in a warm orange glow. It’s minimally decorated with expensive pottery and illustrious paintings. He wanders toward a table near the sewing machine and picks up a piece of cobalt charmeuse, running his fingers against the smooth fabric. 

“Wooseok? Is that you?” 

Wooseok lets the fabric fall through his fingers as he looks toward the voice of his mother. He follows the soft noise of key strokes toward the back of the studio where her office is.

“Hi honey, to what do I owe the pleasure of my wonderful son finally paying me a visit?” She’s sitting behind her computer, her glasses perched low on her nose as she types, “How did the donators night go?”

Wooseok looks around the room, ignoring her question, “How’s dad’s case going?” He asks as he runs a finger along the spine of the books on her shelves.

The sound of typing stops, and Wooseok looks over, meeting his mother’s questioning glance, “It’s... going. We're working on the case. We switched lawyers,” She takes off her glasses, folding her hand over each other and resting them in front of her, “The Park’s finally got their heads out of their asses long enough to realize that your father going to jail would be bad for everyone involved, they agreed to represent him.” 

Wooseok rolls his eyes, tossing his coat against the back of the chair in front of her desk before throwing himself down in it, “Jinhyuk broke up with me last Tuesday.” 

His mother doesn’t even give him the courtesy of acting surprised. Nodding, she gives him a pitiless, tight-lipped smile, “I’m sorry about that, baby. Are you okay?”

Gritting his teeth, Wooseok narrows his eyes at his mother, “He told me the only reason he went out with me in the first place was to get on Dad’s case.”

He watches as his mother places her glasses back on her nose, her fingers returning to her keyboard. She hums, “Well, isn’t that cruel?”

“Mom, you’re the one who introduced us.”

Wooseok’s mother sighs wearily, removing her glasses again. “Wooseok, just say what you want to say, I’m busy, I don’t have time to listen to your insinuations.”

“You used me as to get Dad representation that’s what I’m insinuating.” Wooseok scoffs, standing suddenly, “No one wanted to takes Dad’s case ‘cause it was practically a closed casket and so you made me up like a doll to attract any lawyers dumb enough to try and take on his case.”

“Wooseok—“ His mother warns.

“No! You knew he was using me and you didn’t even say anything because it meant a law firm was actually looking at the case and that’s all that mattered to you, right?” Wooseok grabs his coat, shaking his head as he pulls it on, “Well, congratulations, you got representation and all I got was my feelings fucking stepped on!”

“Wooseok!”

Ignoring his mother’s scolds, he walks out of the office, taking fast strides out of the studio and pressing the elevator button repeatedly.  Rummaging through his pocket, he pulls out his phone and sends a quick text.  When the elevator sounds, he steps in, angrily pushing the ground floor. As the doors close, he stares at his own face on the shiny reflective surface. 

It’s not like he’d expected anything less from his mother. He’d been exposed to her manipulative and narcissistic tactics before and he’d grown used to them after twenty-one years of living with her. He just hadn’t expected her to get involved in his love life. 

Wooseok wasn’t twelve years old anymore and he was by no means naive. He knew he’d likely end up marrying some rich heir to a friendly competitor in an act of merging companies. He’d accepted that fact a long time ago. His only hope was that, before that, he’d be able to fool around with and see whoever he pleased. The one control he had in his life was who he dated and yet somehow his mother had managed to stake claim to that too . 

-—-

Yohan lies reclined against a couch in the nightclub that Seungyoun’s parents had gifted him for his twenty-first birthday. It’s a Wednesday night, so the nightclub is empty, but Seungyoun still turned on the strobe light and the bright fuchsia and neon blue lights dancing across their faces. 

Using his pinky, Yohan mixes the weird concoction Seungyoun had just made him, “What did you say you put in this again?” He asks, sticking his finger in his mouth and experimentally tasting the random mix of various alcoholic beverages Seungyoun had pulled off the shelf.

Seungyoun shrugs, looking down at the bottles he’d lined up on top of the bar, “Umm, Triple sec, Amaretto, whiskey, orange jui—“

He’s cut off by the sound of the club door opening. Wooseok walks in, loudly stomping and taking a seat at one of the stools. Yohan raises his eyebrows, making eye contact with Seungyoun. Seungyoun looks at him questioningly and Yohan shrugs, shaking his head.

Wooseok grabs the bottle of vodka from Seungyoun 's grip, tipping the entire bottle back before Seungyoun reaches forward and pulls it away from him, “Whoah there, bud, slow down. You’re a bit of light weight remember?” Seungyoun smirks, waiting for Wooseok’s usual snappy comeback. His smile falls when none comes. He makes eye contact with Yohan again.

Yohan sits up, hesitating before speaking up. “Hey, Wooseok are you okay? Is this about Jinhyuk?”

Seungyoun straightens at the name, looking between the two, “Jinhyuk? What happened with Jinhyuk?”

Wooseok sighs, leaning his arm against the bar and resting his face in his hand, “The bastard broke up with me.”

“What?! When did this happen?”

Yohan closes one eye, staring off into the distance, “Mmmm, like last Tuesday?”

“What? Why is this the first I’m hearing about it?!” Seungyoun stares at the other two, glaring accusingly.

“Maybe if you’d bother showing up to the donators dinner you’d be more caught up on the lives of your best friends.”

Seungyoun rolls his eyes, leaning over the bar to point at Yohan. His mouth opens and Wooseok butts in before the two can get into a full on argument, “I ran into him at the event and he basically confessed that he only fucked me so he could get on my dad’s case.”

The divulgence has the effect Wooseok was going for and the other two men nearly snap their necks turning to look at him in surprise.

Waving the bottle of vodka in the air, Seungyoun points at the other two, “See! I told you! I told BOTH of you! I knew he was a dick and neither of you listened to me!”

“Don’t get so fucking excited, you asshole. I’m not even upset about that. It’s whatever,” Wooseok shrugs.

Yohan notes that the smaller man’s voice quiets toward the end of his sentence despite his attempts at nonchalance.

“It’s the fact that he’s so smug about it that pisses me off. The asshole thinks he’s won whatever childish game he started,” Wooseok reaches over the bar, grabbing himself a glass and motioning for Seungyoun to fill it for him, “What the dumbass didn’t take into account is that I don’t know when to quit and I never fucking lose. That’s why I called you guys here. Right before we broke up, Jinhyuk told me he had been given the responsibility of the bulk of an important auto insurance case and had to house a ton of important documentation and was beyond stressed about it.”

Seungyoun leans forward, bracing himself against the bar, “So, you want to what, steal the documents and stress him out?”

“Exactly, but that’s not it. I asked my cousin to look into Jinhyuk’s law firm. Their current biggest project is that big auto insurance scandal. If we steal the right papers, maybe even wipe his work computer, he won’t just get stressed, he’ll get fired.” Wooseok smirks, leaning back in satisfaction.

Yohan lets out a huff, “Wooseok that’s evil.”

Wooseok shrugs, looking smug and way too proud.

“I hate to shit on your parade, but how exactly do you plan on doing any of that? You can’t exactly just waltz back into his apartment,” Seungyoun pipes up.

Wooseok stands from his stool, motioning for Yohan to scoot over, and situates himself on the right of the couch. Seungyoun comes over from around the bar when Wooseok waves him over as well, leaning against a nearby pillar. Pulling out his phone, Wooseok scrolls through Instagram before settling on a picture of a boy around their age. 

He points at the screen, turning the phone to show the other two, “This is Lee Hangyul.”

Seungyoun and Yohan nod, looking at the photo with eyebrows raised, waiting for Wooseok to elaborate.

Wooseok stares at them, when they continue to stare back, he sighs, “He’s Jinhyuk’s younger brother,” he finishes the statement with a pointed look at Yohan.

Yohan looks back at him curiously, “The brother he brought to the event?”

Wooseok nods eagerly, “And, he has access to Jinhyuk’s apartment.”

The other continue to stare, still completely lost.

Groaning, Wooseok drops his head in his arms dejectedly, “Never mind you guys are too dumb to help with this plan.”

Seungyoun laughs, sitting down on the other side of Wooseok. He pulls the glass from the younger’s hand and sets it down, “And _you’re _tipsy and wound up,” He doges Wooseok’s swats and ignores his protests, “Elaborate on this plan and then maybe we can help you.”

Wooseok rolls his eyes, “I want Yohan to seduce this kid,” He raises his phone again, pointing at the screen.

Yohan snaps his head up, “What? Why?”

“Because, he sleeps over at his brother’s a lot on the weekends. If you get into his pants, you can convince him to take you to the apartment and then you can steal the papers easy,” Wooseok explains, snatching his glass back from Seungyoun's grip, “ Plus, he’ll be devastated after you break up with him and Jinhyuk will have to be the one to pick up those piece .”

Looking over at Wooseok skeptically, Yohan furrows his eyebrows, “Don’t you think that’s going a bit far?”

Wooseok stops mid-sip and glares at him, “I thought we promised to help each other regardless of consequence. You guys said you’d help me get back at Jinhyuk. The asshole used me and then dumped me. All so he could snake his way into my family. I want him to know what it feels like to have his personal life messed with.”

Seungyoun leans forward and rests his head on Wooseok shoulder, “I’ll do it.”

Wooseok moves to his right slightly, causing Seungyoun’s head to fall off its perch, “No. You’re an infamous slut, he’s definitely heard about you. Yohan actually has a shot,” Wooseok sits back, looking at Yohan and raising an eyebrow, “So? What do you say?”

Yohan looks around the room disinterestedly, “I don’t know.”

“It’s not like we're hurting anyone. All you gotta do is get the kid to fall for you, get the papers, and then dump the kid.”

“Won’t we be hurting the kid?”

Wooseok shakes his head, “I’ve meet him a couple of times, he’s a nerd and socially inadequate, I don’t think he’s ever even had a boyfriend. This’ll be like a life lesson; a favor of sorts.”

He knew his Wooseok was upset (and God help anyone on the other side of _that_ wrath), but something about meddling with some uninvolved brother didn’t sit well with Yohan. He agreed that Jinhyuk was an asshole that had many things coming for him, but there had to be a better way to get back at him.

Yohan shrugs, shaking his head, “I don’t know about this.”

Wooseok sighs and looks like he’s ready to start an entire debate but, before he can get a word out, Yohan’s phone goes off and effectively cuts him off. 

Reading the text, Yohan sighs, “I’m not going to be a part of this, I gotta head out, I’ll see you guys later.” He pulls on his coat and waves at the two before exiting through the front doors of the empty nightclub.


	3. reprisal in action

Driving up the large driveway of his childhood home, Yohan parks his car before making the unnecessarily long trek up to the front door. He hesitates in front of the door, once again reading over the text his mother had sent him last night. He’s glaring at the small font when the buzz of the intercom startles him. 

“Are you going to stand there all day or are you coming in?” The familiar voice of his father makes Yohan smile and he opens the door, stepping in. 

Yohan had shamefully not been home since last New Year. A fact both his mother and father had been very aggrieved by. He removes his shoes and greets the housekeeper. She’s busy dusting the china but directs him towards his father’s study. He thanks her and makes the familiar walk up the grand staircase and to the right, where his dad’s study stands, behind two large oak doors. 

Yohan knocks and enters when he hears his dad call out.

His father is sitting behind his desk, head burrowed in the stack of binders and papers, “Yohan! When’s the last time you’ve been home? You didn’t even bother stopping by after your summer trip. Just straight to school,” His father shakes his head as he flips through a stack of papers. 

Smiling sheepishly, Yohan pulls the chair in front of his dads desk over, setting it next to his father’s own. Wrapping an arm around his dad’s shoulders he gives him a one armed hug, “I’m sorry, Dad. I promise to spend the holidays home, yeah? No holiday trips, how does that sound?”

His dad raises a brow, “We’ll see if you stick to those words,” Organizing the papers, he looks over at Yohan, “I know stopping by to see your old man is not enough of a reason to get you to come home, I’m guessing your mom texted you?”

Yohan sighs, dropping his arm, he nods, “So they’re suing?”

Nodding, his dad hands him the case file, “They’ve fabricated a malpractice case. It’s mainly made-up but the fear is that there’s enough truth behind it to warrant action.” 

His father lets out a weary sigh.

Yohan flips through the stacks of paper, various reports filling the thick binder. Many are accompanied by likely false testimonies. He gets to the bottom of the stack and pulls out the notice of intention to sue. It’s elaborately written and as Yohan scans through it, he can already tell its at least eighty percent bullshit.

He shakes his head, “All this because we dropped their supplier? That’s gotta be illegal in and of itself. We should sue them back, for defamation.”

Smiling his father shakes his head, “I like your enthusiasm but the lawyers said the best course of action right now is to focus on falsifying their case. We talked to Mr. Jung and he said if we work on getting reports and testimonies to refute...“

Yohan has stopped paying attention as his father explains the case. He feels his blood run cold, anger consuming him as he glares down at one of the lawyer’s names typed neatly at the bottom of the notice of intention.

Lee fucking Jinhyuk. 

Yohan throws himself down in front of the other two, chest heaving in quick spurts as he catches his breath, “Let’s do it.”

The other two look up at him, surprised. They’re sitting on a couch in the corner of Happy Cup, Wooseok having been studying and Seungyoun having been scrolling through his phone. Yohan had texted them an hour prior, asking for their whereabouts and promptly ignoring their responses and questionings toward why he needed to know. 

He’d come sprinting through the doors of the cafe, the small bell above the door signaling his arrival before he’d plopped himself down on the coffee table in front of the other two.

Wooseok’s eyebrows furrowed and he looks questioningly toward Seungyoun before glancing back at Yohan, “Do what?”

“The plan. To get back at Wonpil. Let’s do it.” Yohan huffed.

At the mention of his ex, Wooseok sits up, setting down his notebook. He looks at the other skeptically, “What brought about this change in opinion? You were super against the plan just yesterday.”

Yohan shakes his head, “Doesn’t matter. The faster we get started with this the faster we get back at that asshole, right? Let’s talk, what’s the whole plan?”

Wooseok leans back and crosses his legs, folding his hands against his knee, “Sorry to disappoint Hannie, but we’ve actually devised a new plan already.”

Yohan’s face falls and he looks back and forth between Wooseok and Seungyoun, “What? Already? What is it?”

“We’re gonna humiliate the asshole instead. Seungyoun convinced me that getting him fired may have been going too far. Instead, I’m just gonna ‘accidentally’ leak some of the nudes he sent me to his coworkers through his email,” Wooseok pouts toward Seungyoun, “No higher ups though, Seungyoun said it’ll get him in trouble.” 

Yohan deflates, his mind scrambling. He had to get the prick fired before he screwed with the hospital case, he was almost sure that Jinhyuk was the leading brains behind the convoluted case against his family’s hospital. The arrogant lawyer had still had the nerve to show up at the sponsors night last week despite having likely already drafted that bullshit notice. This had turned personal and, as much as it was about Wooseok’s revenge, it had also become about Yohan’s family’s reputation. Of course, he couldn’t tell Seungyoun or Wooseok this. The lawyers had warned them to stay as quiet about the brewing scandal as possible and despite trusting the two with his life, Yohan couldn’t risk either of them accidentally being careless with the information.

Laughing suddenly, Yohan sits up, “That’s so weak.”

Wooseok startles, looking over at him with eyebrows furrowed, “What?”

Yohan sits back and shrugs nonchalantly, “He fucked you so he could work on your dad’s case and all you’re gonna do is leak some of his nudes? How fucking high school.”

Scoffing, Wooseok leans forward, “You’re the shitty saint that couldn’t even agree to the plan yesterday.”

At their bitter tone, Seungyoun sits forward, “Look, I think we’re all getting a little unnecessarily heated here.”

Ignoring Seungyoun’s comment, Wooseok continues taunting, “In all honesty, I doubt you’d even be able to do it.” 

Raising an eyebrow, Yohan stands, placing two hands against the table and leaning forward, “Okay let’s make this interesting then. If I can’t get the little brother to fall for me by November, we go with your plan instead. But if I can,” He pauses looking down at Wooseok’s wrist, “I get your Patek.”

Wooseok frowns, bring his arm closer to his chest as if worried Yohan might try to snatch the watch now. Looking at the other skeptically, he nods slowly, “Okay fine. But if you don’t manage it, I also get Suzy.”

Seungyoun gasps and Yohan frowns. Ignoring Seungyoun’s rapid hand waving, Yohan nods reluctantly. He stops in front of Wooseok, holding a hand out. Seungyoun lets out a dramatic yelp as the two shake hands. 

“I’m gonna miss that car,” Seungyoun cries out, burying his head in his hands.

Wooseok rolls his eyes, putting a hand on Seungyoun’s shoulder, “I’ll still let you join me for joy rides.”

Seungyoun glares at him, “You’re a shit driver. We all know you’re gonna wreck that car within a week.”`

-

Hangyul walks out of the classroom, fumbling about and nearly dropping the stack of books in his hands. He barely manages to adjust his grip in time to prevent his notebooks from clattering to the floor. 

He breathes out a sigh of relief, making to walk back toward his dorm. Unfortunately, Hangyul’s shoe is untied and as he lifts his left foot up, the shoelace, snagged under his right foot, causes him to trip and sends his various belongs scattering across the hallway. He lets out a frustrated groan. Dropping to his knees, he rushes to gather the various papers and books before the sea of students trample over them. 

Hangyul has barely managed to collect half of his papers and books before another hand reaches down, helping him gather what he’d just dropped. Hangyul looks up at the stranger whose head is bent low as he makes quick work of collecting Hangyul’s things. The stranger looks up, flashing him a charming smile as he hands back a notebook neatly stuffed with the papers that Hangyul had dropped.

Hold on. This stranger was vaguely familiar. Hangyul squints at the other, accepting the books and notebooks. He looks closely at him, taking in the dark hair, full lips and eye smile. Ah hah! The guy he’d ran into on the first day of school. The one he’d made spill coffee all over his front. He’d been an asshole that day, why was he being so nice, today?

Hangyul stares at the other skeptically, “Thanks.”

The stranger smiles charismatically, “Are you, okay? That trip looked pretty nasty.”

Hangyul can feel his face heating up. He hadn’t realized the stranger had been witness to his embarrassing fumble. He coughs awkwardly into the back of his hand, nearly dropping all of his school stuff for the third time in the past ten minutes. 

The stranger leans forward quickly and helps him adjust his grip, “You good?” He’s laughing but Hangyul can hear the slight worry behind his amiable chuckle. He jokingly holds his hands out in front of Hangyul, as if he has to be ready to spot him at any given moment. 

Hangyul admits begrudgingly that the precaution is probably necessary but that doesn’t make the gesture any less annoying and Hangyul moves back from the stranger maybe a little too quickly. He stumbles a bit but catches himself, “Umm, thanks. Bye now.”

The stranger opens his mouth and holds an arm out, but Hangyul ignores both, deftly dodging the arm. He takes advantage of the incoming crowd of students in order to distance himself from the weirdly handsome and seemingly erratic stranger. 

After their encounter last week, Hangyul had promptly labeled the stranger as an enemy. Truthfully, the hope and plan had been to never run into him again but had their paths ever consequently crossed, Hangyul had planned on reacting hostilely toward the arrogant man. He’d honestly expected the stranger to react the same way towards him after he’d accidentally caused him to ruin his shirt. The last thing Hangyul had expected was for the stranger to transform into his knight in shining armor after he’d managed to make a fool of himself.

“HELLooO! Earth to Hangyul!” 

Hangyul snaps out of his inner turmoil by a hand that pulls him (with a very unnecessary amount of force) toward the side of the hallway.

“What’s got you in dreamland? It’s not calc is it?” Junho snaps his fingers obnoxiously.

Hangyul slaps Junho hand out of his face and glares at the other boy, “Stop that.”

Junho reacts very much like a wounded animal, holding his arm against his chest and pouting dramatically. He looks at Hangyul’s various notebooks and papers and scoffs, “Why’s all your stuff so dirty?”

“I, uh, tripped,” Hangyul mumbles, looking down at his feet shamefully.

Junho snorts, “This is why I don’t walk with you,” Junho has to leap out of Hangyul’s reach to avoid being slapped.

Hangyul glares at Junho but choses to let the insult go, “Do you remember the guy I told you about, the one I made spill coffee all over himself?”

“The dick that was rude to you? What an asshole, doesn’t he know I’m the only one whose allowed to bully you.” Junho balls his hand into a fist, holding it up in the air as if ready to seek vengeance for Hangyul at any given moment.

Hangyul rolls his eyes, “Yeah, him. Well after I tripped today, he like, swooped in out of nowhere and started helping me pick up all my stuff. It was so weird. He was like, a completely different person. He was so nice.”

Junho raises his brows, “Are you sure it was him?” He gasps loudly, flailing about, “MAYBE HE HAS A TWIN! Oh my god! That reminds me of a drama I watched the other day! There was these set of twins, but the main twin—the main character—didn’t know he had a twin at first, so really in the beginning you kind of just thought there was one guy, but THEN a bunch of bad stuff starts happening—someone dies—wait no first—“

Hangyul rolls his eyes, he has no idea why he thought Junho would have been any actual help. He begins walking in the direction of the dining hall, shaking his head as Junho follows close behind, still rambling.

——

Yohan throws himself down onto the sofa and lets out a loud and frustrated groan. Several students turn to glare at him and Wooseok bodily shoves him, shushing him. 

“Why are you so loud for! This is the library; people are studying!” Wooseok whispers furiously. “At least go be obnoxious somewhere further away from me. You're so embarrassing.”

Wooseok curls further away from Yohan and burrows his head back into his book. 

“Don’t you want to hear how it went with the little brother?” Yohan asks, an eyebrow quirked.

Wooseok’s ear turn up at the mention of Hangyul, glancing over. He hesitates, glaring at Yohan from over the book, but eventually gives in and puts it away.

Yohan smirks but then it falls when he remember how badly the entire encounter went, “I waited outside his calculus class like you said to. I was there for like 15 minutes after class let out and I was beginning to think he had skipped or your guy had given you the wrong schedule. He did eventually come out, took like five steps and then tripped and dropped all his stuff.”

Wooseok stifles a giggle, eyebrow raised, “That’s great! Tell me you played the part and helped him up?”  
“I tried to! I helped gather all his stuff but the dude looked weirdly scared of me. He practically ran away from me once I handed his stuff over. I didn’t even get to introduce myself or get his name.”

Tsking, Wooseok shakes his head disappointedly, "You are kind of ugly, I'd be scared of you too," Dodging Yohan's foot, he holds his phone above his head, "Hey! No hitting or I'm not giving you the list of his extracurriculars.”

Yohan sits up, reaching over. Wooseok slaps his hand away, “Nuh uh, not so fast. This is a bet remember. I’m not gonna help you for free. The schedule was a friendly hand out.”

Yohan rolls his eyes, sitting back petulantly.

“100 dollars,” Wooseok smirks, hand held out expectantly.

Spluttering, Yohan glares at the older, “I don’t have that kind of money on me! I thought we were friends with the same goal here.”

Wooseok ignores him, looking down at his own hand expectantly. 

“Fine. I’ll Venmo it,” Yohan grumbled, taking out his phone, “Leach.”

Ignoring the insult, Wooseok claps excitedly. Once the transaction comes in through Wooseok’s phone, he hands it over open to an email. Yohan looked through it, an eyebrow raised.

“‘Muggle Mayhem’, ‘D&D Club’, ‘GeekWeek Planning Committee’? Why couldn’t this kid just be in the tennis team?”

Wooseok shrugs, “I told you he was a nerd. There’s a D&D club meeting at 5 today. You’d probably run into him there if you went.” 

“The fuck is D&D? It’s not Harry Potter is it?” Yohan looked at Wooseok skeptically.

“I don’t think so. It might be fun for all you know. Maybe you’ll even develop a new hobby,” Wooseok laughs, rolling away from Yohan when he makes to kick him.

**Author's Note:**

> twitter - [quatulate](Http://www.twitter.com/quatulate)
> 
> comments are appreciated :)


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